Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Flames Panel Which Player of the Core would you trade.

It is time to answer the panel question. Today's panel question is: Which one of the core would you trade if you were Jay Feaster. We are using the same guidelines as Jay Feaster himself used.

I thought I would tackle this question first to get rid of bad answers first. There are really not too many options. The Flames are really not going to be able to trade their captain. He is just too valuable to the Flames. Kipper is one of the best goalies in the league. Frankly, we can build the Flames around him.

Gio is far too young, and the Flames would be nuts to trade him; he is the future of the Flames. He could be a star d-man for many years to come. Mark is already the Flames' number one defensemen. They cannot afford to trade him.

Jbo has too big of a cap, although he is a solid defencemen and could help any team in the league. His cap hit will be too much for most teams to take on, and would force the Flames to take too much cap back. But he would be a great addition to any NHL team.

That leaves Regehr. I think he is the most logical person to be trade. His cap hit is quite affordable, at $4 million a year, he is quite reasonable. He is a solid shutdown defencemen, and there are not too many defencemen who can hit like Regehr. So there is my answer: Regehr.

Travis

After Darryl Sutter's firing, Flames nation breathed a sigh of relief as losses piled up. Action was finally being taken. 3 weeks later, and Feaster is now the 'acting' GM, tasked with making moves to make the Calgary Flames a more competitive team. Since Darryl's firing, it seems that the team is playing looser, having some fun, and putting wins together against top teams. Looking at the current Flames roster, you have 3 core players that have been around since the magical run of 03-04: Regehr, Iginla, and Kiprusoff. All have had their ups and downs this year, with Iginla being the first to be put under the microscope, and Regehr being on and off the hot plate, and Kipper most recently. All are into their 30's and beginning to enter their 'twilight' years. Who would you trade? The way I look at it as this: Who would bring the best return without the biggest loss to the Flames?

The way I look at it is that the two players that would bring the best return are Iginla and Regehr. Iginla is no longer the impact player that he used to be. Yes, he is a complete player, and will do everything that he can to win, but he's also looking for ways to cheat to get those plays made. The hard nosed, 'I'll do it myself' attitude is no longer there. It's understandable, and natural as a player gets older. The time is right where Iginla will benefit by heading to a team that has more talent around him, somewhere like LA, who at the moment are barely ahead of the Flames. A Brayden Schenn + 1st+3rd would make me happy, and would secure a top 5 pick for our Flames.

Regehr, on the other hand, will solidify a back-end for a cup contender. San Jose would be a perfect fit, as their defense has not been the same since the departure of Blake. Regehr can play big minutes, and punish any forwards that come bearing down on him. As Doug Wilson looks to get his Sharks over that final hump this year, he should be looking to the Flames as their defense is still near the top of the NHL. A Setogouchi +2nd trade is something to look towards, and IMO would give the Flames a decent replacement for Iginla, though nowhere near the complete player our beloved Jarome is. The 2nd would give us a full set of picks that Feaster has said he is looking to acquire.

Kipper is too important for us to let go, and usually the returns on goaltenders have never been great. Although he has struggled this year, I still believe that he is that cornerstone that the team needs as it waits for Leland Irving to make the jump. To top it all off, Eklund threw out a doozy today with Bourque, Bouwmeester, Backlund +1st +3rd to New Jersey for Parise, Rolston, Tedenby, Salvador, and Zharkov. Tempting, but take out that first from us, and Zharkov from the Devils and I'd do it.

If it all went down today, we would be looking at a top line for next year of Parise - Schenn - Setogouchi. Not bad...

Mike Walsh

After reading the recap from tonight's fan forum, I think this just got a whole lot easier to answer.

Feaster's core: Iggy, Kipper, Gio, Jay Bo and Regehr.

Based on the comments by Feaster at tonight's fan forum, those listed above are the only 5 players who Feaster considers core and chances arewill not trade. However, if I was in charge, I would look to move Robyn Regehr.

Regehr is still an attractive defensive defenceman for almost every other team in the league. He is exactly the type of defenceman that teams look for when they are hoping to make a long playoff run. I would move him because 1) He makes too much money. 2) His knee injuries have slowed him down and 3) he is that attractive asset that others would want. I think Feaster and the Flames could get a decent return, likely a good younger player, either a forward or defenceman maybe 2 and likely a2nd round pick depending on how many younger players are included in the deal.

My gut tells me there is NOT a rebuild coming in Calgary, Feaster is going to re-tool the team to his liking. He will not lose the acting tag until the summer but if ownership is giving him 6 months of being in charge, I just don't see how they can let Feaster re-tool and then have someone else come in and maybe rebuild. There are some very good pieces here and based on Feaster's comments that he will explore all tools available to him (buy outs, minors, trades, etc.), I am expecting to see the core kept together and most of the supporting cast to change.

Dareen

So, if I was Jay Feaster, and I were in my office with my face in my hands, looking at my core, which includes Iginla, Giordano, Bouwmeester, Regehr, and Kiprusoff; the obvious name to trade would be Regehr, a responsible hard-nosed defenceman that can excel in a shutdown role. But I would be looking for max return and that player (and I HATE to say it) is Miikka Kiprusoff. I remember the day we traded for him. My buddy came to my work and said sarcastically “we are gonna win the cup, we just got a goalie named Kiprusoff”. We both chuckled and went home to study his stats. A few months later, we ended the season one game away from winning the cup, thanks to “that” Kiprusoff goalie. Kiprusoff has become the workhorse and continues to steal games. Every team wants him and the Flames are fortunate and at times, we take him for granted. If we make him available, I can name 8 teams that would take him. The reality is, if we want a serious package that includes prospects and picks, we need to trade Kiprusoff. Kiprusoff allows the Flames organization to kick in the rebuild process and start fresh. It will be rough, and we will all quickly see how important he is. So I would deal Kiprusoff. I believe he offers the most significant return, and doing so would announce that a rebuild is in effect.

If we are basing this on the Flames retooling and putting on a band-aid, than my choice would be Robyn Regehr. You can probably get an ok return that could include a nice draft pick that helps the organization get some youth and hopefully speed.

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